


Finding your way home is easy when you're already there

by noctlis



Category: Persona 5
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-20
Updated: 2019-04-20
Packaged: 2020-01-22 19:52:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18534358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/noctlis/pseuds/noctlis
Summary: Shukita Week Day 7: Free dayYusuke and Akira talk about home; Yusuke wants Akira to stay so Akira does.





	Finding your way home is easy when you're already there

Yusuke is surprised when he gets a text message the evening of March 19th. 

It's not necessarily a strange circumstance, but given the date and the time, he certainly hadn't seen it coming. He's even more surprised when he sees the sender is none other than Akira, perhaps the last person he would expect to be texting him at this time. "Can you come to Leblanc? I want to talk," the message reads. Both simple and yet vague, the words conveying absolutely nothing to assuage Yusuke's curiosity and concerns. Akira is supposed to be packing, a basic enough task, and no matter what 

Yusuke goes over in his head, he can't think of single reason for Akira to be contacting him.   


Regardless, he types up a quick response of "Of course. I will be there shortly," and then grabs his jacket and his bag before leaving the Kosei dorms.   


Thankfully, the ride to Leblanc is a quick one and Yusuke arrives at the cafe within half an hour. Boss hasn't closed yet and he seems confused when Yusuke enters, his eyebrow raising inquisitively. "What are you doing here? Did Akira ask you to come help him pack or something?"   


Yusuke shakes his head. "I must admit I'm not entirely sure as to the reason myself, but Akira has requested my presence so here I am."   


Boss chuckles. "Probably asked you 'cause he knew you could never say no to him. Well, don't let me keep you. Go on and head up to his room."   


"I will, thank you," Yusuke says warmly. He offers a small bow and then makes his way up the stairs.   


He had expected to find Akira's room in disarray upon his arrival, various belongings strewn about while Akira organized them and boxed them up. However... that's not the case. When he walks into Akira's room, the area is spotless, still set up exactly the same as it had been the last time Yusuke had been there. Nothing is packed, and the small pile of boxes in the corner appears to be almost completely untouched. Akira himself is seated on his bed and when he spots Yusuke, he smiles but doesn't stand, instead gesturing for Yusuke to approach. Yusuke obliges him without hesitation, leaving his bag and jacket on the table nearest to the stairs and then reaching the bed in long strides, at which point Akira holds out his arms and Yusuke immediately closes the distance between them.   


At the same time that Yusuke wraps his arms around Akira's shoulders, Akira brings his own arms up around Yusuke and pulls him down onto the bed in a tight embrace, his warmth seeping right into Yusuke's body. A familiar warmth that has always felt more like home than anything. After a few seconds, Akira sighs contentedly, as if nothing else in the world matters now.   


Yusuke can't be satisfied if they leave it at that, though. "Akira," he says softly, shifting in his position so that he can lift Akira up onto himself and cradle him against his chest. "What did you want to talk about?" When Akira doesn't reply right away, he adds, "Am I correct in assuming it has something to do with the state of your room and your clearly lackluster attempts at packing?"   


Akira hums after a few more moments. "Yeah," he says. His voice is a little quiet, but Yusuke is pleased to find there is no melancholy note to it, as he might have worried there would be. "I've been thinking about a lot of things lately. Like what I really want to do, and the choices I'm making, and how much this past year has changed my life." He closes his eyes and nuzzles his face into the crook of Yusuke's neck, his breath ghosting along the skin there and sending a slight shiver down Yusuke's spine. His next words are muffled but still perfectly clear in Yusuke's ears.  "And when I thought about who I wanted to talk to first about all of this... It had to be you."

"I'm honored." Yusuke raises one of his hands and threads his fingers through Akira's hair, tries his best to figure out a way to help urge Akira to speak without being too forceful. "Please, feel free to tell me whatever is on your mind."

"There's a lot. Too much, probably," Akira says. He shifts so that he's resting his head directly next to Yusuke's neck so that his voice is no longer muted. "But I'll try to tell you what's most important." Ha pauses, like he's shuffling between puzzle pieces in his mind and trying to find the right ones to speak his thoughts. And at last, he seems to find a starting point. "What did you think.. when you first heard I was leaving?" It's a question, not a fact- and it catches Yusuke off guard, his heart notably skipping a beat in his chest.

"... I tried not to think about it," he replies honestly. "It wasn't something I could change, for as much as I…" No, don't say that. It's not fair to Akira. "Regardless," he says instead, clearing his throat and hoping Akira hadn't noticed. "I didn't let myself linger on it too much. Sometimes things happen and we just have to let them, after all." Even now, if he thinks too much on the topic, he starts to get a familiar sinking feeling in his gut, a twinge that envelops his whole chest. A feeling that almost reminds him of a time long past, before he met Akira or the Phantom Thieves. This isn't about him, though. He reminds himself of that as he feels Akira sigh again.

"That's… kinda how I viewed it at first too. Like it was just a fact of life, that I was going to be leaving here soon and I would return to my hometown, and that was that. But…" He pauses again, but this time, when Yusuke glances down, he finds a soft smile on Akira's lips. The sight of it eases the tension almost instantly, morphs it into a fluttering sensation that bubbles up under Yusuke's ribcage. "As it got closer and closer to the date, I realized... that I was wrong."

"Wrong about what?" Yusuke allows himself to relish the feeling, to hug Akira closer against the gentle pounding of his heart.

"That this was something I had no say in. If I just sat back and let things happen, I realized that I would be exactly the same person I was before I came here. I wouldn't have changed at all. But I did change." Akira's voice is warm, so warm it seems to spread all over Yusuke, from where it vibrates in his chest out into Yusuke's limbs, into his fingertips and down to his toes. "I reached my own conclusion, and you know who it was thanks to?" Without waiting, Akira gives him the answer. 

First, in the form of a kiss. He doesn't move from his position on top of Yusuke, merely shifts further up so he can fit his lips tenderly to Yusuke's, the warmth now flowing inward, as if Yusuke had swallowed the sun from Akira's mouth. Despite the brevity of it, Yusuke still finds himself breathless when Akira pulls back and rests his forehead against Yusuke's. 

Second, a single word that fills Yusuke up with so much affection, with so much love that he barely knows how to process it. "You," Akira says.

"I…  I believe you need to explain further," Yusuke says, strangely bashful, as if the kiss had taken with it all of Yusuke's usual confidence. But of course, Akira has always had that effect on him.

Akira laughs, the noise what Yusuke has always imagined sunshine would sound like. "You inspired me, Yusuke. You, and the others. I've met so many amazing people here who taught me so many things, who made me feel like I belonged even when the rest of the world had turned its back on me." He meets Yusuke's gaze and the fondness in his eyes makes Yusuke feel like he could melt, and he's certain that if he were standing up, that look alone would have made him fall to his knees.

"Just as you inspired all of us," he returns, quietly, brushing his nose against Akira's. "You saved us, after all."

"And you saved me," Akira says emphatically. "So I realized that I don't want to leave you all. I don't want to go back. I won't leave you all behind because this… This is my home now."

Yusuke doesn't know what exactly it was that really got him, whether it was "I don't want to leave" or just simply "home." But either way, he's fighting back tears as he hugs Akira the tightest he ever has, hugging him like his life depends on it. He's never been very good at dealing with his emotions and right now, the overflow of relief and joy flooding though are almost too much for him to bear. Yet despite the eagerness with which Yusuke clings to him, Akira doesn't seem to mind at all, and he laughs as he holds Yusuke just as tightly.

"I didn't want you to leave." Yusuke says now what he hadn't allowed himself to say earlier, his true feelings no longer carrying the same weight they had just minutes ago. "I wanted you to remain here, with all of us. I wanted to be your home."

"You are," Akira tells him, leaning in to litter butterfly soft kisses to Yusuke's lips, warmth reassuring and overpowering. "And that's why I'm not going anywhere."

Those words mean more to Yusuke than anything.

They just hold each other for a while, basking in their shared warmth until the last of the light has slowly seeped from the room, replaced by cool shadows. With the day turning to night, they finally separate (of course, only briefly) and get up so they can get ready for bed. Once they're both in their pajamas, and back in Akira's bed, Yusuke is able to find his voice again. "You said that I was the first person you wanted to talk to about this. Does that mean that none of the others know you won't be leaving tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Akira confirms sheepishly. He cuddles up closer to Yusuke and lays his head on Yusuke's chest. "The only one besides you who currently knows is Morgana, but that's because he spends so much time with me that he sometimes understands my feelings faster than I do."

"He is quite keen, when he so chooses to be," Yusuke muses with a chuckle. "Speaking of Morgana, where is that cat?"

"With Futaba for tonight," Akira explains. "He knew I wanted some time alone with you so he left earlier to give us some space."

Yusuke raises an eyebrow. "And he's apparently far more considerate than he would like us all to think." They both laugh, the air so light between them that Yusuke would never believe that either of them had ever felt nervous about March 20th.

"Tomorrow," he says, leaning down and pressing his lips to Akira's forehead. "Let's go tell everyone. Together."

"Yeah," Akira says, smiling.


End file.
